On Saturday, I sent requests for quotes to six (6) Toyota dealerships in North Georgia. I stated the interest in buying a 2004 Toyota Camry Solara SE V6 (non-Sport) with floor/trunk mats and in one of two colors (Black or Oceanous Blue). I also stated that no other options would be entertained unless unbilled.

So, I made an offer of $20,500 not inclusive of the Tax, Tag, and Title, nor the deliver (destination) charge, and I stated my purchase timeframe was within two weeks, but the better the offer the sooner the purchase.

Well, the cheapest counter-offer was over $22,900 for a vehicle that I clearly did not want. Not only was it not in either of the two colors I was looking for, but not in the option I wanted.

At this point in time I am under the impression that the Toyota dealerships around me are not interested in selling a customer a vehicle 'they want', but rather a vehicle 'they don't want'. At no time did any of those the replied to my email offer to locate the desired vehicle.

So, should I conclude this is a behavior to be expect in general of all dealerships in this day and age, just Toyota dealerships in my area, or just something I am not recognizing?

I do understand that a floor sales person should sell what inventory is on-hand, but with a dealership's Internet sales people I would think they could put a little effort and at least attempt to find the vehicle the customer is desiring and not a vehicle the customer isn't desiring.

Do Toyota Camry Solara SE V6 with trunk mats actually exist? There is such a thing as compromise, but their replies offer no compromise that I can see.

Your offer wasn't too outrageous... MSRP for my Solara was just under $25 and I got it for just over $21... If I were you I'd take a personal trip to the dealership and sit down to negotiate with them.

Just remember, YOU are the customer... if they want to sell you the car bad enough... they will. If you don't get what you want... thank them for their time and walk away... there's always more dealerships!

Yes, I have. The problem is that the Southeastern Toyota dealerships are completely different than elsewhere in the country. They place their own options on the vehicle and these are options that don't even correspond to those listed in the brochure. This only further aggravates the problem.

BTW, my emails only went out after I got home from being at the dealerships. They were not willing to move off the dealer listed price, which is a far cry from the manufacturer's MSRP.

I just don't think they are interested in selling a car to someone stubborn and willing to wait. There are too many gullible fish to sell these cars at outlandish prices.

Its just seems like an impossible aspect of trying to buy what an automaker made rather than what a dealership thinks was made. This is completely different from when I negotiated for my wife current car in 1995 and my truck in 2001. The environment seems more catered to the seller than the buyer.

Try Carsdirect.com - they claim they'll sell you that car in the Atlanta area for $20,123 including destination charge. It's a Carsdirect price, not a "target" price, so I think the deal would happen through them.

We contacted the nearest dealer,30 miles away in a small town. We told him what we wanted.He hadn't seen one yet but would do a search. He called back and said they are limited and asking a premium of a couple grand. His search ended up in Montana,we are on the coast of Wash. That was a Sport in a diff color. I called all dealers in a 200 mi area. Found just what we wanted 100 miles away from that dealer. Learned dealers hide certain models from search.They are in short supply here in the NW.We pd $24k incld $485 ship,

Base Invoice......18661Holdback.....643.50Admin (TDA for the rest of the country)...575Destination.....565Floor mats and cargo mat...166.10

Invoice Total.....20610.60

All of the Solara SE V6 are also coming in with the SZAT conv. Package which is 933. If you do not want this package it would have to be ordered and could take 30-45 days for delivery. You need to base your offer off of this info and you shouldn't have any problems gettingthe color and price you are looking for.

This is strange. Here is the invoice price for that config:Base: 20,649Dest: 515Moonrf: 720Mats: 112Total: 21,996. Throw in the unavoidable dealer advertising of $549 and you're at $22,545. I don't think they're selling these cars for $1,000 under invoice. Am I missing something?

All I know is the price I signed for was $21,500 plus tax, title, and license. Who knows... maybe the dealer needed to sell a new Solara. My car was built in August... got to the dealer on August 30th... sat on the lot until Sept. 21 when I bought it. I was the first person to buy a new Solara at their dealership (so they say).

Maybe they gave it to me for cheap because they knew they could screw me on my trade. I had a 97 Grand Prix GTP in MINT condition (maybe a few dings here an there) within only 87K miles on it and they only gave me $4300 for it. I stopped back to the dealership a week later and they had it advertised for nearly $9K! Someone bought it a week after that... not sure how much they paid for it though???

i live in N.CA and the dealer offered me carsdirect price ($27,6xx)for an SLE V6 with Nav, side & curtain airbags, slip control, rear spoiler, special paint for white exterior (rip off from toyota), floor & trunk mat (big rip off from toyota), trunk net (another big rip off from toyota). dealer not willing to take out the mat and net because they came from the factory.

jschamberger: just curious, what makes you get rid of the pontiac and switch to a japanese car? i still see my POS 2001 Civic selling on the dealer's website. I cannot get rid of it in months and I hope the dealer is having a hard time getting rid of that POS too.

1- It had a small water leak in it that I couldn't find... and whenever it rained the passenger side front and rear floorboard would get soaked (started happening about 3 months before I got rid of it... a major PITA to clean!)

2- As you may or may not be aware Pontiac loves to use tons of cheap plastic parts in their cars and as the car ages it rattled all the time... drove me nuts.

3- It seemed to start depreciating (spelling???) faster and faster lately (wonder if it had something to do with the new model of Grand Prix coming out) that I wanted to get the most I could out of it.

I have a new job that requires me to travel quite a bit. I wanted something that was 100% reliable, smooth, quiet ride, and had a sweet looking interior. The Solara did it for me.

I will admit that I do miss the POWER of my Grand Prix... I modified the engine and exhaust a little and pushed the horsepower up to around 280 (at the crank). I loved hearing that supercharger whine!!!! If you want to know what it sounds like... rent the movie "The Italian Job"... whenever it shows chase scenes with Charlize Theron... the sound of her engine was just like an engine with a supercharger whine... greatest sound on earth!

i just realized toyota has their pricing list for extended warranty on their website. called the dealer to see if they're willing to meet the MSRP on the extended warranty price before i cancel the contract. still waiting for them to call me back.

for those that are interested in purchasing extended warranty, make sure you go to Toyota Financial Services and get an idea how much the extended warranty costs before negotiating with the dealerships.

Just checked the price sticker on my car. They didn't charge for the trunk net.

Regarding the extended warranty, dealer agreed to give me some coupons or vouchers for the differences between the amount I paid and the quote I got from another dealership. I can use it for parts or services at that dealership. Just hope that they won't close their door in the next few years. But I think by looking at how they rip ppl off, it'll be difficult for them to go BK.

Why the heck do we have to buy a car through dealerships? Can't the manufacturer set up something so we can buy from them directly?

Minimum 3 percent under invoice and expect a cargo net and floormats free, maybe wheel locks too. Otherwise walk, and wait until the end of the month when the dealers and slaesmen need to make their quotas. Go to Schaumburg Toyota outside Chicago as they are the largest volume dealer. Extended warranty should br 50 percent of retail.

After getting a great online quote on a new Solara, my dealer offered to locate the exact color and option combo I was looking for. He quickly found what I wanted (looked it up while I was on the phone) and the vehicle is now on it's way to my dealership. My questions are...

What is reasonable for a locate fee on a car like the Solara? $0, $50, $100, $300?

I was told my car will be transported by a "driver" to my dealership and may have some distance on it. How many miles is reasonable on a dealer-to-dealer delivery and should it affect the price?

This is the first time I've had a dealer "locate" a vehicle for me. Even with the fee, the quote was still a great deal. But I'm concerned this car may have up to 300 miles on it. Is it something to be concerned about?

It should be from $50-$150 depends on the area and cost of labor. I got mine for $80 but waived by the dealer. The car is 30 miles away so it's not too bad. You may ask the dealer for the distance then decide if the fee and mileage are acceptable. Good luck!

Maybe Cliffy, or someone, can lend some insight on this. I sent out requests for a price on a new SLE V6 fully loaded. First dealership called and said they would make the deal for only $500 over Edmund's invoice price. That was less than 2% over and I thought that was pretty good. So I asked the dealer to fax me the specs and prices. The car, except for a few minor details, was what I had specified. This is what I got back:

All totaled the amount over invoice is $1609, not $500 as the salesman stated over the phone. I realize the VDA (advertising) is common, but I clearly stated that I wanted to know what the TOTAL price would be above dealer invoice, not counting tax, title and license. And I've never even heard of WHS Financial Reserve. Can anyone tell me what that is and is it a legitimate fee?

I'm not saying the $1600 over Edmund's price is outrageous, but it will be interesting to see what other offers I get. I'd feel a lot better if they just told me $1600 in the first place. It would save everyone a lot of time.

Can anyone tell me what Financial Reserve at $259 is and what you think of the other charges? Thanks.

They just place all possible charge in the quote in case they decide to add it. Usually the dealer like you to go to their site to discuss the price. Check if they have fleet department hat also cover internet deal. I now never call ththe te rep in sales department for the quote! They are tend to play the trick to you. Believe me, there have different attitude.

Hi! I'm from SoCal and am planning to buy the 04 SE Sport Solara in either black or oceanus blue (?). I talked to my parents and we want to pay in full for the car, but I've never bought a car before and my parents aren't fluent in English. Can anyone please give me some tips on what to expect? And also, is asking $22k (give or take) too little for the trim I want?

Bought my new 2002 Solara SE 2.4 in the summer of 2003 and paid CAD $26275 - List was $28175 and $1025 freight /PDI for a total of $29200. Toyota has a program in Canada (Access Toyota) like Saturn does - they tell you what to pay and you accept it, or you don't get it. Couple of months earlier I watched a guy $29200 for a 2003 which is the exact same car but a year later. Easist car purchase I ever made - walked in, told them what I wanted to pay, and drove it away. According to Carcostcanada.com (we have to pay for such info here), the dealercost for a 2002 was $25800. The insurance is cheap as they list it as a Camry and its a couple of years old with only 5K that i have put on the odometer. The 04 just doesn't do it for me

I assume you are asking for V6 SE. If you shop around, in So CAL you may find 22K would get you the trim you want. Use online quoting services (more than one) to find as much as possible and then check with any hidden cost such as Advertising fee or markup. If you want to call them, ask to talk to Fleet dept. which in charge internet deals and willing to get you better price since they are not rely on commission mostly. Good luck!